Posted on: November 04th, 2009
Pete Sampras to play Sunday in Lakeway exhibition
- petepageWednesday, November 04, 2009
A little more than a week ago, Pete Sampras was in Macau — China's answer to Las Vegas — winning an exhibition tennis match against longtime rival Andre Agassi.
It was their first meeting on the court since Sampras' classic four-set win in the 2002 U.S. Open final, a triumph that gave him a then-record 14th Grand Slam title. Their recent match was played just before the storm of publicity and controversy hit about Agassi's new tell-all book, "Open: an Autobiography."
Among the revelations in Agassi's book was his admission that he actually hated tennis with a "dark and secret passion."
Did Sampras harbor similar feelings?
"He was pushed much harder than I was. I was helped. It never got to the point where I hated it," Sampras said Tuesday.
However, Sampras, who will play an exhibition against Todd Martin on Sunday at Lakeway's World of Tennis, did take a three-year long break from the sport not long after his U.S. Open triumph.
"I didn't pick up a racquet," he recalled. "I didn't want to watch it. I didn't want to read about it. I didn't want to talk about it ... I just wanted to get away."
Sampras, 38, married actress Bridgette Wilson nine years ago. They live in the Los Angeles area with their two boys, Christian and Ryan. For the first three years of his retirement, Sampras led a quiet life. Probably too quiet. Playing golf and poker when he pleased and chauffeuring the kids to school and their activities eventually proved not to be enough, mentally and physically.
"I had my aha moment. I saw a picture of myself," said Sampras, who had gone from a playing weight of 180 to 185 pounds to an even 200. He realized it was time to pick up a racquet again, which he did in 2006 to begin playing exhibitions and champions events.
Unlike Agassi, Sampras wasn't pushed into the sport by a parent. When he was a youngster, Sampras found a tennis racquet in the basement of his house and began hitting balls against the walls. The family's move from Washington, D.C., to sunny Palos Verdes, Calif., when he was 7 gave Sampras more opportunities to become immersed in the tennis culture. He showed an exceptional aptitude for the sport and was eventually coached to drop his two-handed backhand for the one-hand shot. He also was drilled on the serve-and-volley techniques that would prove so valuable later in his career.
"I used a wood racquet until I was 14. You can't cheat with a wood racquet," Sampras said. Playing with a sweet spot about the size of a pea taught Sampras to hit those volleys crisply.
"It's a style of play that is pretty much extinct," he said. "Players aren't developing their games now."
Sampras said young players now grow up being able to use the bigger, high-tech racquets to smash the ball from the baseline and don't alter that style much as they mature.
Sampras' net-rushing game served him particularly well at Wimbledon, which he won a record-tying seven times. In his sixth triumph there in 1999, he overwhelmed Agassi in straight sets, leaving a stunned Agassi to say in amazement, "He walked on water."
At Wimbledon in 2000, with a win against Patrick Rafter, Sampras claimed his record 13th Grand Slam title. He would have to wait two years and go winless in 33 straight tournaments before capturing his 14th major at the 2002 U.S. Open.
Although he was 31 and had just scripted the perfect exit from the sport, Sampras put off retiring.
"I remember getting back home and feeling vindication," said Sampras. "I was working with (coach) Paul Annacone. We'd hit a few balls, here and there, and I kept pulling out of tournaments."
When Wimbledon approached in 2003, Sampras dramatically picked up his pace, but on the third day of practicing hard, he realized the fire was gone.
"I was fine physically," Sampras said. "There was no number left for me; nothing left to prove."
If the magic number of Grand Slam titles had been 15, which Roger Federer recently reached, Sampras said he might have kept going. As for the one Grand Slam title that eluded him, the French Open, he said, "I wish I would have tried a bigger racquet on the clay ... It gives a little more spin, a little more power and you need a little more stick on the clay."
In addition to seven Wimbledon titles and five U.S. Open crowns, Sampras won two Australian Open titles, the first coming in 1994 against Martin, his opponent on Sunday.
ABC Services Tennis Classic
What: Exhibition match between Pete Sampras and Todd Martin
Where: World of Tennis, Lakeway
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: Order online at www.etix.com or call 800-514-3849. Prices are $28.50 to $68.50. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Children of Fallen Soldiers charity.
Source: Statesman.com
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